Psalm 38:4-6
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.  My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.  I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

Our sins are not a light burden and should not be taken lightly.  They are a weight upon our shoulders, a heavy chain around our ankles, a load on our backs we don’t have to carry.  The longer we carry them, the heavier they seem, and they keep bringing us lower and lower and lower as we try to keep going with them in tow.  They weigh us down physically, spiritually, and emotionally.  They bring us to depths we should never have to get to.  And if we refuse to release them, we will just keep sinking.

Sin is a serious thing that causes very real and very serious problems.  In fact, it is such a serious matter that God had to send His only Son to solve the problem of sin, to allow us to be freed from this burden, to defeat sin once and for all and to absorb the punishment for it.  But just because we are forgiven sinners instead of unforgiven sinners doesn’t mean sin is something we don’t have to be concerned about.

It seems we have lots of tricks for trying to deal with sin ourselves sometimes.  Maybe we think if we ignore it, it will just go away.  Maybe we try to make up for it by punishing ourselves in some way.  Maybe we make excuses or try to blame someone else.  Maybe we figure we’re so hopeless that we might as well just keep on sinning.  But these verses show us what will happen if we do anything but confess our sins to God, admit them, own up to them, and ask His pardon.

The effects of sin can make us pretty miserable.  It’s not easy carrying around that heavy weight.  And it makes us so useless to go about our days troubled and burdened and sapped of energy.  And if we’re avoiding God to avoid facing our sin, then we lose that fellowship, we lose our source of strength, we lose that peace He gives to us.  We worry too much, and our minds are so focused on ourselves that we can’t help anyone else.  So let’s not toil under the heavy burden of sin when God can set us free.  Let’s not remain bound in chains, corrupting ourselves further and further when sweet redemption is so near.